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Personal circumstances have led me to neglect Rumpundit, but Thierry’s death spurs me back to business and I will do more from now on.

I last met Thierry in New York at the Financial Times “Business of Rum” supplement launch. He was there, not because he was a huge financial player, but because all of us involved respected the quality that Barbancourt represented, not least because of the adversity of conditions in Haiti.

At the conference, I reminded him of what he had told me years before – and he had forgotten. Smiling, he told me in his soft French accent, “Ian, you know, Bacardi are very clevèr.”

“How?” I asked.

“If you look at zeir advertizements, they always want you to drink zeir rum with something else!” he said.

I have to say recent Bacardi products from Facundo mean it is no longer true but it was a wonderful put down – that could be said of many other mass sale rums!

Ian

The man behind Haiti’s best-known export, Barbancourt rum, dead at 65

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Thierry Gardère, the general director and fourth generation of his family to head Haiti’s Rhum Barbancourt shows off the company’s prized cognac-like spirt three months after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. Hector GabinoMiami Herald files

The man behind Haiti’s best-known export and most famous rum, Rhum Barbancourt, has died. He was 65.

Thierry Gardère died Wednesday in Port-au-Prince after complaining that he didn’t feel well and had trouble breathing, assistant William Eliacin confirmed to the Miami Herald. He said the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism.

“He had driven from Jacmel in his car and arrived home at 11 a.m.,” Eliacin said. “He died en route to the hospital.”

Gardère’s great-great uncle, Dupré Barbancourt, who moved to Haiti from France, founded the company in the same year — 1862 — that the United States finally recognized Haiti. The country had been shunned because of its successful slave revolt.

“They are now on the fourth generation,” Eliacin said. “It’s a big loss. Huge.”

The company’s general director, Gardère was in charge of Barbancourt’s day-to-day operation. Under his leadership, the company came back from a $4 million loss after 30 to 40 percent of its stock was lost in Haiti’s devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. Some of the white oak vats that had spilled onto the distillery’s floor contained rum as old as 15 years.

In less than a minute, as many as 300,00 people were dead – buried beneath a pile of rubble from the Western Hemisphere’s most devastating natural disaster. Nou Bouke: Haiti’s Past, Present and Future, is an hour-long documentary produced by The Miami Her

“I started to cry because of the alcohol vapours, well, and because of the tragedy,” Gardère told the Financial Times in a 2015 interview. “I was in shock, it was terrible.”

But even with a significant amount of the cognac-like stock lost, Gardère remained hopeful, telling the Herald three months after the quake: “We are ready to recover.”

And the company did. Once scarce, the suitcase-like boxes filled with rum bottles and stamped Haiti on the side were suddenly everywhere inside Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince.

“The satisfaction he had was that the company was back on its feet,” Eliacin said.

Still, Eliacin, who has been with the company 40 years, can’t help but wonder about its fate. Gardère’s only daughter, Delphine Nathalie Gardère, lives in France. So do his brother and sister, also shareholders in the family enterprise. In addition, he’s also survived by his wife, Muriel Lamour Gardère.

“Barbancourt is a national ambassador for Haitians, an honor, a prestige,” Eliacin said. “It was no longer just for Thierry Gardère. It is for all Haitians, a national patrimony.”

The men took part in what was a daily ritual for sailors called Tot Time, where work on the ship would stop at noon and the sailors would drink a gill of rum (four ounces) to fight off scurvy, and for Dutch courage.

A group of 10 sailors from the original HMNZS Canterbury honoured a naval tradition in Blenheim yesterday by swigging rum on the stroke of noon.

The men were all part of the 3L mess on the frigate when it was commissioned in 1971, and travelled from England, via the United States and Panama Canal, back to New Zealand.

They gathered for their annual reunion, the first held in the South Island, at the weekend.

The men took part in what was a daily ritual for sailors called Tot Time, where work on the ship would stop at noon and the sailors would drink a gill of rum (four ounces) to fight off scurvy, and for Dutch courage.

Bob McKenzie, of Wellington, was the president of the 21 men in 3L mess. He said the group formed a special bond from their time on the HMNZS Canterbury, and had become an extended family.

They drank from cups made from Bofor 40 millimetres L60 anti-aircraft shell cases, which had the men’s names engraved on them. One cup commemorated the three members who had died.

Mr McKenzie, formerly of Blenheim and a radio operator on the ship, said he had great memories of his year on the frigate in 1971, including the day Princess Anne commissioned the ship.

The members of 3L mess, who are now scattered throughout the country and in Australia, still meet regularly, he said.

Some of the men travelled to see the ship being sunk near Deep Water Cove in the Bay of Islands in 2007 after it was decommissioned in 2005.

I could not go to the London Rum Fest this year – I was supposed to be judging -and instead had to sample some rums up here in the mountains as a consolation. For the record, the London event is magnificent, definitely the best in the world, as befits the (former) heart of the empire that spread rum around the world – and which never had Prohibition to leave a legislative mess up that stops the USA arranging anything quite as good!

Saturday 31 July is the 40thAnniversary of Black Tot Day when the Royal Navy abandoned the daily grog ration for its sailors. Do hoist a dark rum to mark the occasion. The British decision to abandon a centuries-old tradition of high octane fighting spirit and replace it with high megaton Trident submarines has proven to be a financial and naval disaster. When it waived the rum rules, Britannia abandoned all pretension of ruling the waves!

The first reference to Navy rum was by Samuel Pepys, who although best known for confiding his sex life to his diary, was the civil servant in charge of the Navy. He authorized the Navy in the Caribbean to issue rations of rum to the sailors based in Jamaica.

Soon, however, rum was a major constituent of the Navy’s fuel supply. Admiral Vernon, after whom George Washington’s home Mount Vernon was named, decided that it was better for the health and safety of his ships and crew to mix the rum with water before issuing it, and to issue the half pint in two servings. He was known as “Old Grog” because he wore a waterproof cloak made of “grogram,” a mixed fabric that served before oil-skins and that gave the name to the mixture.

His orders were that the grog was to be mixed in a “scuttled butt.” The idea that scuttlebutt was sailor’s chat around the water cask is a post-Prohibitionist invention. It was the rum barrel that loosened the tongues of the eagerly waiting tars.

Navy regulations insisted that once the grog had been mixed, it had to be served promptly, otherwise it would thrown overboard, because it went “flat.” I’ve experimented with Pussers, still made to the original recipe, and it’s true! While the rum is in a colloidal suspension in the water the droplets of rum hit the tastebuds and taste as strong as normal spirits but once they are dissolved it tastes like watered rum!

The US Navy initially adopted British grog rations but then under influence from the growing whiskey industry, swapped over to what was presented as a more patriotic spirit after 1806. During the Civil War, the US Navy abolished the ration completely, perhaps taking advantage of the connection between abolitionism and prohibitionism, both of them gaining the upper hand with the departure of Confederate personnel. However it was only the ratings who were deprived. It was not until 1913 that officers were coerced into official abstinence.

In contrast, the British Admiralty was frankly scared of the mutinous consequences of depriving ratings of their historical entitlement, and it kept issuing Royal Navy rum, until 1970, when they overcame public nostalgia by breathalyzing the pilot of a nuclear submarine after he had drunk his ration.

In fact, for centuries, the Royal Navy had maintained naval supremacy despite often inferior technology compared with its Spanish and French rivals, because its crews, pressganged or volunteers, outfought their enemies. And looking at it analytically, the major observable difference was the rum ration, which is why wanabee naval powers like Czarist Russia and Japan also served up rum.

British captains and admirals still have the discretion to order “Splice the mainbrace!” for special occasions, however, and naval lore is still steeped in rum, which in Britain was known as “Nelson’s blood,” since allegedly the devoted tars donated their rations to bring the Admiral’s body back from Trafalgar to London.

I checked it out in the Gibraltar library in the contemporary newspapers, and sadly, the Admiral’s body was carried back to London pickled in Spanish Brandy, aguardiente. Perhaps the tars did not want to waste the good stuff… but I have not been able to prove or disprove the story that the coffin was drained by the time it arrived in Britain. The tars might have preferred rum – but any spirit in a drought was long-standing tradition.

This week Sukhinder Singh of Speciality Drinks in London launched Black Tot – an exclusive bottling of Navy Rum over 40 years old – a find for rum-drinkers equivalent to discovering Tutankhamen’s pickled stiff, except the archaeologists never brought the young pharoah back to life, while the old rum has indeed been revived. It was in sealed ceramic flagons allowing its unique biochemistry to play out over almost half a century.

In the Admiralty, the most coveted job was to sit on the committee that each year assessed what proportions of Jamaica, Trinidad and Demerara rums was consistent to maintain the formula, and Speciality’s experts have topped up the work of all of those departed palates to ensure that the bottles live up to expectations.

If you can’t get some, then up spirits on Saturday with any dark rum and shed a tear for bygone glory!

IWSC reveals spirit winners The International Wine & Spirit Competition unveiled its spirit medal and trophy winners last night at a tasting held in conjunction with The Worshipful Company of Distillers at the Innholders’ Hall in London.

The event offered guests the opportunity to taste their way through 200 of this year’s award winning spirits and liqueurs.

Among the top performers were Janneau, whose Armagnacs won six medals, including a gold (best in class) and El Dorado Rum, which also won six medals, including three gold (best in class), and the IWSC Trophy for Rum 2010.

Three gold (best in class) among its six medals helped Svedka to scoop The Purity Vodka Trophy in a competitive category, although Smirnoff’s flavoured range also performed strongly.

For the whiskies, Glenmorangie, Caol Ila, Laphroaig and The Balvenie topped the single malt Scotch categories, with Hankey Bannister taking The William Grant Independence Trophy for Blended Scotch Whisky and Suntory’s The Hakashu triumphing to win The Brown-Forman Trophy for Worldwide Whiskey.

Sainsbury’s topped the supermarket medal table with two gold (best in class) medals for its Superior Dark Rum and Dún Léire Single Malt Irish Whiskey 8 YO, as well as four silver medals for its Taste the Difference 12 YO Armagnac, Taste the Difference XO Cognac Single Cru Grande Champagne, Taste the Difference Blackfriars London Dry Gin and Taste the Difference French Brandy XO.

Tesco won a gold (best in class) medal with its Finest 12 YO Whisky, in addition to two silvers for its whisky, a category which also saw the Co-op take three silver medals and one for Waitrose.

In one of the more surprising results, Oliver Cromwell 1599 Premium Gin, an own label gin from value retailer Aldi scooped the Gin & Vodka Association Trophy for Gin in a victory that was hailed as being just as important for the retailer as it is for the brand.

IWSC competition director Frances Horder said: “Aldi’s success in the IWSC may come as a surprise to consumers but they have been steadily gaining credibility in the industry for their spirits category in recent years, winning the International Wine and Spirit Competition European Retail Spirits Buyer Trophy in 2009.

“We are delighted for the buying team and their suppliers for their deserved success and we hope this award will give consumers the reassurance and guidance they need to pick this product off the shelf.”

The Smatt’s Jamaica International Polo took place on Sunday 4th July, at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club, continuing Jamaica’s long held association with the sport. As well as the spectacle of the Eduardo Moore Polo Final itself, guests were treated to a fabulous afternoon of Jamaican music, a BBQ lunch and a glamorous after party hosted by Rogue London during the evening.

The event was attended by around 200 guests, including His Excellency Anthony Smith Johnson, the Jamaican High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, various polo press and enthusiasts, the Jamaica Tourist Board and product partners including British Airways. Jamaican TV personality and chef Levi Roots also attended, providing some of his speciality ‘reggae reggae’ marinade for the lunchtime BBQ.

The event was hosted by Smatt’s Rum, which is produced in Jamaica, and sponsored by the Jamaica Tourist Board, who hosted media at the event as part of their sports marketing strategy.

Liz Fox, Regional Director at the Jamaica Tourist Board, said “This was a great opportunity to interact with young, wealthy consumers who travel regularly and tend to stay in luxury accommodation. As one of the world’s premier polo destinations, Jamaica offers the chance for the polo ‘jet-set’ to pursue their passion for the sport, whilst enjoying the Island’s spectacular beauty and exclusive resorts.”

The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), founded in 1955, is Jamaica’s national tourism agency based in the capital city of Kingston. The JTB was declared the Caribbean’s Leading Tourist and Convention Bureau by the World Travel Awards (WTA) from 2006 to 2009, while Jamaica earned the WTA’s vote as the World’s Leading Cruise Destination, the Caribbean’s Leading Destination and the Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination.

JTB offices are located in Kingston, Montego Bay, Miami, Toronto and London. Representative offices are located in Düsseldorf, Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam and Tokyo.

For details on upcoming special events, attractions and accommodations in Jamaica go to the Jamaica Tourist Board’s Web site at www.visitjamaica.com, or call the Jamaica Tourist Board on 020 7225 9090

Rum is experiencing a Renaissance around the world as savvy consumers discover the incredible flavors of fine rums from every Caribbean island and every region of the Americas.

Miami is uniquely positioned to host this unique international festival — a celebration of cane spirits in the new world.

www.RumRenaissance.com
Mark your calendars now for one of the premier international rum events in May as Miami Rum Renaissance Festival presents a unique and exciting celebration of the finest rums in the world, featuring a slew of great VIP parties, an exhibition of ourstanding cane spirits, seminars and workshops, an opportunity to rub shoulders with dignitaries and notable experts, plus a special series of beach and pool party events celebrating island cultures with live music, great food and an amazing array of tropical libations.
The Raleigh South Beach Resort
Our Grand Tasting event is held at the world famous Raleigh South Beach Resort with a fabulous pool and private beach, directly on the ocean. You’ll find the Raleigh chic, yet warm and inviting; glamorous, yet without attitude; historically iconic, yet tastefully modernized. Here is a legendary and world-renowned art deco hotel that lives up to its copious accolades. Special Rum Renaissance room rates start at $250.

The Grand Tasting Event May 8
The Grand Rum Tasting Exhibition on Saturday, May 8 will include a plethora of fine rums from the Caribbean and beyond, presented in the context of a luxurious, tropical setting of the Raleigh South Beach Resort. Sample the finest rums from each island, from each category and from each notable brand.

The Celebrity Seminars
Seminars and lectures will be presented by a veritable who’s who list of experts from the rum manufacturing, distilling and blending world, as well as luminaries of the cocktail mixologists universe, offering insightful programs to consumers and members of the trade.

The VIP Parties May 5-9
Be there for these very special rum-themed events, hosted by the best rum companies in the world and great locations around Miami, featuring fine rums, great food, music and island culture.

The Rum Tasting Competition
Rum Renaissance is host to the International Rum Expert Panel (RumXP) tasting competition, where more than one hundred rums from around the world will be judged by an all-star international cast of distillers, mixologists and spirits journalists gathered in Miami Beach.

The International Tiki Face-Off Competition
From around the world and from down the street, some of the world’s best tiki mixologists will duel for bragging rights to the best international tiki team title with a series of challenges, culminating in a big finale at the Grand Tasting Event.

The Tropical Libations
The world’s finest bartenders and mixologists will be in attendance, producing exotic libations with world-class rums to delight and amaze rum enthusiasts.

The Big Bang Beach And Pool Party
On Sunday, May 9, we’ll all gather around the pool at the Raleigh South Beach Resort from noon to 5pm to enjoy the sun and fun. Chill out, decompress, mingle with rum experts and enthusiasts from around the world and enjoy living the great rum lifestyle on the beach.

Make plans now to experience Miami Rum Renaissance Festival, May 5-9, 2010.

The Hukilau, in association with Seven Tiki Rum, Trader Vic’s and Tiki Farm, announces the 9th annual Hukilau, taking place from June 10th to June 13th, 2010, in Ft. Lauderdale Florida.

The Hukilau is a multifaceted event celebrating the past, present and future of everything “Polynesian Pop.” In bringing together all aspects of Tiki and Polynesian Pop Culture, including entertainment, music, visual art, mixology, food, fashion, cultural and social history, the goal of this four-day extravaganza is to bring together Tiki lovers and curiosity seekers from all over the world for the ultimate party and vacation weekender which is every bit as illuminating as it is entertaining. Promoters estimate 1000 attendees to partake in this year’s Hukilau.

The Hukilau 2010 featured events:

The Hukilau has the distinct privilege of presenting the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale’s Oceanic collection donated by none other than the Mai-Kai itself in the early 1970s. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to view this world-class collection.

The Hukilau special guest, artist SHAG will be debuting three new paintings as part of the on-site Harold Golen curated art installation “Poly Blend.”
The master of mixology, author Jeff “Beachbum” Berry (author of the groundbreaking drink recipe books “Grog Log” and “Intoxica!”) returns with an all-new seminar about The Suffering Bastard, a classic and revered rum based drink.

Florida historian Lu Vickers, author of “Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida’s Oldest Roadside Attractions” will delight and enthrall with her seminar, slide show and vintage film footage.

The Hukilau 2010 has not one but two film debuts in store. Filmmaker Jochen Hirschfeld presents the world premiere of “The DVD Of Tiki,” five years in the making, for which a film crew traveled the Pacific for 101 days capturing both the true South Seas and its pop culture reinvention – a true labor of love. Duda Leite, back from Sao Paulo, Brazil, brings a full feature-length version of his fabulous Tiki documentary, “Tikimentary: In Search Of The Lost Paradise,” all about The Hukilau and the modern-day Tiki movement!

The Hukilau 2010 Special Events:
* The return of the Hukilau Room Crawl!
* The return of the long-awaited “Sarong-O-Rama Fashion Show”!

The Hukilau also makes available unique limited edition event-only mugs, glassware and other merchandise to its attendees.

EVENT VENUES
Hukilau 2010 events and seminars will take place in three Ft. Lauderdale venues: The Mai-Kai is a Tiki-themed restaurant which opened to the public on December 28, 1956 and is one of the few “Grand Polynesian Palaces of Tiki” still in operation today. The restaurant includes eight dining rooms, a bar, tropical gardens with walking paths and waterfalls, and a stage in the center to showcase the Polynesian Islander Revue floor show. The Bahia Cabana, a Key West style hotel, is located directly across from Fort Lauderdale’s famous white sandy beach on the Atlantic Ocean and includes a waterfront patio and bar overlooking the area’s largest Boat Marina. The Bahia Mar Beach Resort occupies 44 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway and has a colorful and interesting history that goes back to 1875 when it was the site for a house of refuge to provide shelter for survivors of the areas frequent shipwrecks. Event specific rooms at The Bahia Cabana are already sold out. Bahia Mar has plenty of rooms (with marina views) available for the incredible rate of $114.00 per night

Pat Robertson says a pact with the Devil did Haiti in. Haiti makes one of the world’s best rums – Barbancourt. I am contacting rum aficionadoes to hold Fundraisers with the Demon Rum, to help Haiti- and Robertson be damned!

Any ideas from rum makers, distributors, or even mere drinkers, do send me suggestions so we can work on it,

A RUM RUN TO EATONVILLE FOR “FOOD AND FOLKLORE”
Tom Gjelten, author of Barcardi and the Long Fight For Cuba
Writer and Rhum Mixologist Daphne Muse introduces the “Zojito” a Libation Paying Tribute to Zora Neale Hurston

Eatonville Restaurant’s Food and Folklore brings in 2010 with libations to the flavors and adventures of the legendary beverage “Rum.” NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten will share highlights from his biography of the Bacardi family (Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba), founders of the rum company that inspired the “Cuba Libre”; and Daphne Muse, writer and mixologist specializing in “rhum,” will introduce her recent creation, the “Zojito” a libation paying tribute to Zora Neale Hurston. Muse was a judge for the first US International Cane Spirits Festival Competition presented by the Ministry of Rum. (Proper ID required for rum tasting.)

The date of the January Food and Folklore event is Tuesday, January 26 at 6:30 PM at Eatonville Restaurant (2121 14th Street, NW). Food and Folklore is a monthly series intertwining storytelling and fabulous food. Food and Folklore is wrapped in the spirit of gifted storyteller and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston’s brand of hospitality – a generosity with food.

Food and Folklore features a special prix fixe themed menu prepared by Eatonville’s executive chef Rusty Holman. The Menu for the Rum! event includes:

The price per person for Food and Folklore is $45 (plus tax and tip). Reservations are required as space is limited. For information call, 202-332-ZORA (9672) or email foodandfolklore@gmail.com.

About Eatonville Restaurant
Eatonville Restaurant is a Southern-inspired restaurant opened in 2009 by Andy Shallal, founder of Busboys and Poets. Located in the historic U Street Corridor at 2121 14th St. NW, The Zora Neale Hurston inspired restaurant is in the heart of where Hurston and fellow writer/poet Langston Hughes enjoyed a lively social and cultural life during the early 1920s. Eatonville pays homage to Hurston’s D.C. connections including her time as a student at Howard University. It is named for her childhood hometown in Florida, the setting of her most famous novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. http://www.eatonvillerestaurant.com.